Il Segnato
by FeatheredMask
Summary: Antonio could come up with so many reasons to excuse his fear of the Church. Incense allergy, didn't know church etiquette, big chanting crowds freaked him out, bad childhood experiences, etc. If only his boyfriend wasn't studying to become one of those weird priests who saw spirits everywhere.
1. Easter Bread

**Disclaimer: **This is a Blue Exorcist AU with Hetalia characters. Some borrowings from Supernatural.

**Warnings**: This chapter contains religion (Christianity), mentions of food, implied ritual abuse, some swearing, and our fave pair of homos

**Pairing**: Spamano

* * *

**Il Segnato **

"Cinque, sei... Qui, gli vostri dinari. Grazie."

A common exchange, to anyone who happened to glance by. A pretty average-looking Italian, buying Italian bread, in Italian, in an Italian bakery, in Italy. The Italian - a teenager, actually - took his purchase, the door ringing a bell as he left. He pulled out his iPod, and messed around with the wires and adjusting the bag of wonderful aromas before getting the headphones snug over his ears.

It was a nice day out, and he took his time, walking along the ancient street, Gregorian chants reverberating in his ears. Maybe he'd make tiramisu later. He only swore off meat for Lent, not alcohol.

A figure dashed in front of him, and he stumbled back with a curse, barely holding onto the bag. "Cazzo-!"

"Lovi! I knew I'd find you out here!"

Lovino's headphones slid down to his neck, and his heart restarted as he recognized the voice and that absolutely beaming smile. "Cosa stai pensando, Toni?! You almost gave me a heart attack!"

"Heh, sorry about that." Antonio backed up a step to give him breathing space, still smiling wide. "But it's the Easter holidays! School's off for the whole week, and I can spend all that time with you."

Lovino scowled. "Yeah, and I'm going to be busy all week. I live in a church, remember? I have to help out." He started walking again, and to his chagrin, Antonio kept up right at his side.

Antonio's smile did not waver. "Aw, c'mon, Lovi. You're always busy with that cram school and extra classes. Take a break from it all, go on a date with me, have fun at a festival, go see a movie..."

Lovino blinked. "...what was that middle one?"

"Have fun at a festival?"

"No, not that one, the other- Che, forget it." Lovino paused the chants still going on at the edge of his hearing. "Why don't you come to Mass for once? We're having an Easter egg hunt for the kids, you can steal some chocolate."

That produced some hesitancy from his friend. Lovino glanced at him, and found him with a frown, looking away. He sighed. "Look, I know you don't like it. But you know the Church is my life. I'm going to be working with churches and holy-everything after I pass my exams."

Still Antonio hesitated, and they crossed a street in silence. "You can stay by my side the entire time," he tried bargaining, blushing about them being so close together, in a holy place. God, he was such a virgin. "There's a secret room in the basement full of cool junk. I'll sneak you down there during the egg hunt if you come."

At the mention of the secret room, Antonio perked up. Lovino hid his grin behind the bag of bread. Hook, line, and sinker. "Really?"

"But only if you come."

More hesitance. Lovino felt guilt creeping in at what he was asking for Antonio, but hurriedly shoved it away. He let out a sigh of relief as the answer came.

"Then I'll come."

* * *

Children of the small town ran around in the grass, baskets swinging from their arms, some of them overflowing, others with only a handful of plastic eggs. Screeches and laughter bounded across the Church yard, little kids slipping under yellow tape that delineated age groups, eager to get a taste of what the big kids hunted.

Lovino leaned back on the bench, watching with a chuckle as the kids enjoyed themselves. Parents watched from the sidelines, some of them accompanying kids with nervous issues. His brother, Feliciano, tended and comforted a little girl who'd tripped, skinning her knees and ruining her dress in the mud in the process. He was always better with people than Lovino.

Speaking of scared little kids, Antonio was nowhere to be found. He hadn't been there for the Saturday vigil. Lovino had been sure he'd find the Service of Light beautiful. Now it was Sunday, and at the egg hunt. He sighed and closed his eyes. Shouldn't have gotten his hopes up.

Someone sat beside him. He turned to face them and tell them to fuck off (unless it turned out to be a kid), but the words died on his lips.

Antonio shifted beside him, fiddling with an empty green egg, trying to find something to do with his hands. "Sorry I'm late." He still smiled, despite how skittish the atmosphere made him. "Hope you don't mind."

Lovino scowled, but couldn't stop a grin from breaking through. "Of course I mind, moron. You missed Communion."

He sheepishly offered the egg, as if that made up for it. "I found an egg? It matches your eyes."

"Your eyes are the same color as mine, dumbass. And an egg is not Communion." He put a hand over his eyes, almost groaning at his friend's stupidity. "...you ate the chocolate, didn't you?"

"Yeah, why? Was it bad chocolate? It didn't have anything I'm allergic to, did it?"

"It means you can't fucking take Communion. You can't eat in the hour before."

"Oh."

Lovino wanted to slap him. Wasn't this common knowledge?

"...but I came, so that counts for something, right?"

"You're on church grounds, but not inside the church," Lovino pointed out. His eyes flicked to Antonio's sweater and jeans with a scowl of disgust. "You're not dressed for it, either. Come on."

Lovino stood up, and Antonio scurried to catch up, egg dropping in the grass. "Does this mean I have to go home?" He instantly felt terrible at the hint of hope in those words.

"Nah, I'll lend you some clothes. We're going in through the back door," Lovino said, hands in the pockets of his long black coat. "My bedroom's upstairs." He opened the wooden door, lavish inlays of iron decorating it, and paused, seeing Antonio hesitate again. "It's not like it's going to burn you."

Lovino closed the door after Antonio entered, and led him around the homely kitchen to the stairs. "Well..." He bit his lip, seeing Antonio stop again, this time to stare at the stairs leading down. He sighed and grumbled, "I said I'd show you the secret room, I know, I know."

He could hear the skip behind him as they went down the steps, and smiled. Showing him a few Exorcist supplies and relics was worth it to help Antonio get over his fear of all things Catholic. A few sleepy Coal Tars stirred from their cozy niches. Lovino brushed the possessed dust puffs away as they drifted over to investigate.

* * *

_Author's Notes_

It is with regret that I bring this story into being. This story has eerie similarities to my old WoW story, Cherish. Which I never want to be reminded of again. Anyway, this was inspired by a picture on Instagram showing Lovi and Toni in the clothes of Blue Exorcist characters. As you know, Lovi and Feli can often be seen as twins, and they have only an old man to call family, parents mysteriously missing, and an obvious tie to the Church, the Vatican. Now throw in Antonio, and let's see what happens.

I didn't want to copy much, so this isn't going exactly by the BE anime. Many changes have been made, mostly so I don't have to keep rewatching and rereading stuff, a mistake I made with other crossovers.

I haven't edited this chapter much bc I'm lazy. Might edit it in a few days.


	2. Marked

**Chapter content warnings**: swearing, religion (Christianity and Hinduism), fainting, dirty joke, allergies~

Note: This story includes a character who experienced ritual abuse in childhood.

* * *

**Il Segnato**

Antonio sneezed.

"Salute," Lovino said, brushing away a few more dust demons as they descended. Annoying, if harmless. At a second sneeze from his friend, he chuckled. "You're not escaping this place by claiming to be sick, you know."

"I think it's the incense." Another sneeze.

Lovino stopped and groaned, cursing himself for missing that. "Go back upstairs," he ordered. "I'll air out the place and make sure stuff's not contaminated."

Antonio dutifully went back up the stairs, stopping atop at the cellar door. Lovino continued on downstairs, cursing himself five different ways for forgetting.

Allergies! Lovino blushed bright red at his stupidity. How could he forget a thing like that? He almost walked Antonio right into a life-threatening situation!

The old bulbs buzzed with age as they popped to life, and coal tars fluttered and blinked as their sleep was disturbed. Lovino nabbed a broom and pan from the corner, and got to work sweeping up the place, disposing of the old herbs lying around - he couldn't identify them, but didn't want to take the chance. Once the floor was as good as he could get it, hitting himself in the face a couple times with the end of the broom, he shoved the mundane supplies back in the corner, exchanging them for a copy of the Upanishads.

"Wind, wind, where's that passage- the Katha, right?" Lovino flipped to that chapter, then kept flipping. "Nope, okay, creation story-"

Finding it, Lovino sat down right where he was. After some adjusting of his clothes, he was in the right position. "Om Tat Sat, Om Tat Sat, Om Tat Sat..."

Absorbed in his chants, he almost missed the effects of his spell going on around him. Wind whipped at his hair and stirred coal tars in mini tornadoes. Talismans threatened to tear off from their posts, and chimes made sounds like bells as the stale air moved. An old staff of some sort clattered from its position on the wall.

"Lovi?"

At Antonio's voice, Lovino ceased his chanting, the winds dying down. "Namaste, Vayu," he muttered under his breath, before scrambling to his feet, hearing someone descend the stairs. "You shouldn't come down until I say it's safe, dumbass," he reprimanded, scowling.

"Smells fine to me," Antonio shrugged. "The fans got rid of most of the smell. But I heard something fall; are you okay?"

"I'm fine- Hey!"

Lovino tried to snatch the Veda copy back, but Antonio had his focus firmly on it. "This doesn't look Christian. Lovi, you didn't say you had cool Hindu stuff down here!"

Lovino almost scoffed, but stopped himself, seeing how bright his boyfriend lit up at the book. He looked away, blushing. "Y-yeah, we've got all sorts down here."

"Lovi, I think you knocked this over..."

"I did not!" Lovino's face turned red again, as he returned the Upanishads to its place. "It fell on its own."

"I don't think it's broken," Antonio continued, ignoring Lovino's protests. He carefully picked up the ancient staff, brushing off the caked dust. He picked at the leather clasps keeping the covering over the top of it, hesitant to take it off. "Is it okay if I take this off? It's not going to break, right?"

"Damn." Lovino gingerly pried it away from his hands, gingerly examining it. "Nonno's going to kill me if this thing's broken. This thing's been here since I was a kid!"

Antonio's eyes widened, and he seemed to regard the staff in a higher light. "Seriously, Lovi, you have a museum down here."

Lovino scowled. "Shut up. Step back, it might be stuffed with rosemary or some shit." Always a chance, but there was a higher chance the item was sealed with enchantments that would release a discharge as soon as he opened it. Of course, he didn't want to accidentally damage Antonio with either holy magics or allergies. Allergies that ridiculously coincided with sacred herbs. Honestly, was it too hard to have normal allergies? Like pollen and peanuts? Not that he was complaining - no, wait, he was. And the universe better be listening so it could fix all this.

The buttons gave away with a pair of snaps, and Lovino gingerly took off the covering. He cursed as the piece tried to escape him, and clinging tight to the surprisingly solid wood, eyes shut against the bright flare. He kept his footing, although his shoes slid over the floor a few inches.

After barely a second, it was over. The staff was about as unremarkable as any old museum junk. A round, decorative top, with metal rings acting like chimes hanging from it. Lovino gave it a cautious shake, and the shiny bits clinked together. How annoying. He turned his attention to Antonio. "Well, it's not bro- Aw, shit."

Antonio, out cold, didn't reply.

* * *

"Trust me, Lovi. This isn't an allergic reaction," Antonio repeated himself, blinking, much to the annoyance of the teen holding a magnifying glass to his face.

"Stop blinking," hissed Lovino. "They're red, aren't red eyes an allergic reaction?"

"Not when the iris turns red." He pushed away the scientist tool, bringing the mirror close to him again. "_Bloodshot _does not mean the green part of my eyes turn the color of blood. It means the the white part turns pinkish-red and vein-y. And my eyes would be itchy. They're not itchy."

Lovino gave a huff, throwing up his arms. "Then what is it!"

Antonio shrugged, which did nothing for Lovino's scowl. He got up, returning the mirror to where it had been stolen from, then flopped back on his bed. "I'll see if I can get in to see a doctor soon," he decided.

Lovino shook his head, pinching the bridge of his nose. "I'll talk to my grandfather when I get home." He quickly realized how that would come off to Antonio, and hurried to amend, "He's really into holistic medicine! He might have some idea of what to do."

The following silence wasn't reassuring.

"He might just direct you to a nutritionist, or a masseuse and say it's stress, that kind of thing," Lovino said, stumbling over himself, trying to fix whatever had cracked. "Nothing too weird, and nothing with side effects-"

"Lovi." Antonio's voice was soft. "Stop. It's fine. I'll go to the doctor, and then we'll go from there."

"Yeah..." It helped to settle Lovino's nerves a bit. Just a little bit. "Jeez, don't you ever clean up around here? It's a mess."

Antonio chuckled, and Lovino scowled to cover up a grin. Right. Normality always helped get him back. "Don't laugh. You're supposed to keep things clean so allergens don't build up." He felt almost like his mother. Ugh. He did not need that image. "C'mon, you're even lying on an old shirt-"

"Ahi!"

The red 'fabric' yanked itself out of Lovino's grab, wrapping around Antonio's torso. "Ahi, ahi, ahi... Lovi..." Antonio whined, rubbing his lower back, near his hips, miraculously missing the thing sprouting from there, and giving Lovino a wonderful view of his ass. And a long scarlet tail.

Staring, Lovino didn't have the mind to pick up his jaw off the floor. When he finally did, swallowing, he breathed, "Yeah... Don't come near the church anytime soon, okay?" This. This explained a lot.

"Isn't that what I always do..? Lovi, are you staring at my butt again?"

"A-again!?" Lovino blushed several shades of red darker than the tail, and slapped a hand over his eyes. "Dammit, I need to think."

"...as much as I'm trying to take that as a compliment," Antonio started, sounding uncomfortable. "And I'm sure you don't get it much at your place, but please don't do that in my house."

Lovino wanted to slap him. On the face. Not anywhere else. "Oh my God, Toni! No! I don't mean that!"

"Then what?"

The sudden flip away from the perverse topic caught him off guard. "Huh?"

"Then what do you mean by you need to think? Think about what?" Antonio clarified. His tail steadily unwrapped from around him, and waved in the air over his back. The oblivious Spaniard stared at the floor, face in his pillow.

Lovino glanced at the tail, then to Antonio's face. He sighed, regretting what he was about to do. "Sorry for this," he muttered, before grabbing the tail.

"Ahi, Lovi, that feels weird. What are you-"

Antonio broke off as the end of his tail was presented in front of his face. The length of it twitched, trying to tug out of Lovino's grip. "...what's-"

"You have a tail," Lovino explained shortly. "An actual tail."

"Okay."

"You have a tail and all you can say is 'okay'?" Cue gawking. One day a fly was going to get in there.

Antonio sat up, gently taking his tail from Lovino's hand, carefully running his fingers along it for himself. "I believe you. There's this thing here, and if you say it's a tail, then it's a tail. My tail, apparently." He let go, letting it flick around his ears.

Lovino relaxed, and smiled. "Then listen to me now," he said, tone soft for once, as he sat down beside him. "Not many other people can see it, but keep it hidden under your shirt, okay? Some people can see it, and some of those you don't want finding out that you have a tail. Just don't worry about it until I figure this out."

Antonio followed that, and nodded. He looked down again, and Lovino panicked.

"Hey, hey," he tried again, giving him a quick peck on the cheek. Trying to ignore the rising blush on his face, he scooted closer for cuddling. "It's going to be okay. I won't do anything you don't want me to. You don't have to come to the church again." It wouldn't help Antonio's phobia one bit, but he didn't want to freak him out by saying the wrong thing.

At the hesitant nod, Lovino held his breath for another moment. "...how am I supposed to hide this thing?"

Pfft. The question caught him off guard, and Lovino found himself unable to hold back laughter, falling backwards as Antonio sat up to stare at him. "What? What's so funny? I'm serious," he whined, his tail slapping everything around it like an irritated cat's. "I don't know how to keep it hidden! What am I supposed to do? Lovi, this is important!"

* * *

_Author's Notes_

The Upanishads are a sacred text from Hinduism. Vayu is the god of wind.

Lovino refers to Antonio's fear as a phobia. I'm not sure if this is correct, but it's easier for him to call it a phobia rather than breaching the real reason.

"Ahi!" - The main language being spoken here is Italian. This is Italian for "ow!" Antonio speaks Italian. Because he lives in Italy. In that same vein, "salute" is the equivalent of "bless you" after hearing someone sneeze.


	3. Race the Dark

**Content warnings**: SAD TONI, references to past abuse, reference to suicide, swearing, religion (Buddhism)

Rating has been bumped to T for heavier topics referenced in the story

* * *

**Il Segnato**

"Dove sono?"

Antonio asked the sky, wind whisking away his words to be lost over the cliff. Blue stretched endlessly in front of him, sky and sea melding together. Grass and moss curled its way between his toes, stone scraping under him. Few clouds licked the blue, stray scatterings promising to leave the sunny day alone.

Invisible. Some wounds were only visible to those who felt the hurt, wasn't that the saying? His mother hadn't blinked at his new features, had even complimented on how much his green shirt matched his eyes. The mirror didn't lie, no matter how much he ached for it to erase him.

School felt like a dream. A nightmare wrapped in banality. He'd stumbled through it, avoiding friends, guilt and anxiety over these marks he knew they wouldn't see. Their smiles and laughs felt too bizarre for him to stand right then. Lectures and classes had passed in a haze, and he'd ran as soon as his school bag dropped on the couch in his living room.

"Chi? Chi sono io?"

He couldn't answer that question. At one point, he thought he knew, and then that had been crushed and stamped out of him with sweet syrup teachings. Years later, he believed himself to be piecing together a new answer, carefully discovering that child hidden in a bruised shell.

Tender tissues and ligaments pulled at his back, appendages feeling stiff and rusty, as if he'd forgotten about them instead of being born just yesterday. He sucked in a breath, his chest expanding, wide ragged wings stretching out to reach the heavens. Feathers fell like autumn leaves, grey and frayed as if they'd been dead for longer than a few seasons.

Grigio. Haunting ghosts and ashes, that's what he felt like. All those words that echoed in mangled memories. Contrary to all they promised and cooed, they guided him away from the light. The painted a mockery of the sun in their black embrace, and he fell for it.

Exhale. The wings shuddered as they dipped, and as his shoulders fell, he felt feathers brush the long grass behind him. Could they fly? Could _he_ fly?

Of course he could.

He just didn't know how.

When did baby birds lose the ability to learn how to fly? When did that critical period pass by untouched, dooming the birds as flightless dodos? He'd have to find out.

Wings stretched back, and Antonio stumbled forward with a shock, the weight balancing out behind him vanishing. He managed to catch himself before he went over the cliff edge, hitting knees and palms of hands on weathered rock.

Wide emerald eyes stared at the red sting on his skin. His chest heaved. "They're gone," he gasped out. Without twisting his head around, he knew the wings wouldn't be there anymore. Even the claws that had attached themselves to his feet brushed away to stubby toes that hit the grass.

Laughter bubbled up in his stomach. That was it? Everything he'd been worrying over, gone, just like that? Another living dream. A cruel god that made him suffer and contemplate his worth before saying, "Just kidding!" with a shower of confetti.

Just leave him alone already.

* * *

Fuck school. Fuck teachers and authority. Holing himself up in the cram classroom while anybody worth it attended shit like algebra and history; that was enough for Lovino. He just needed his books - hell, he didn't like these books anyway, but he had to put up with them for the time. He had to find - what was it? A cure? A treatment? A solution. To a problem he didn't even know where to start with.

What kind of curse made a person grow a tail and change their eye color? That damn staff had done something, the fucking _why_ behind it being sealed. Lovino grumbled at that. "Toni wouldn't be in this mess if I had just put that damn thing back..."

"Oh? What damn thing?"

Lovino jumped, dropping a book from his hands. He found himself thankful it was a newer edition, and not a priceless ancient tome. "N-nothing, Preside!" he hastened to reply, and dived down for the book, berating himself. Stupid, stupid!

The brilliantly-clothed man leaned against the doorway, staring at Lovino with interest. "Come now. What has you so frustrated that you skipped classes for research?"

"Dammit." Lovino puffed his cheeks and huffed. Picking up the books and materials gave him an excuse not to look in the headmaster's direction. "Just some old crap in my grandfather's basement. Trying to find out what it is."

"And what it does," the headmaster continued, however much Lovino tried to avoid giving away too much information. "I could ask why you're not asking your grandfather this..." The man swept into the room, robes billowing around him like a wizard of fable, green eyes scanning the choices in literature. "...but authority never works for you, does it?"

Another huff. Lovino hated this guy's knack for...he didn't know what, he just knew he didn't like it. "What do you want?" he snapped, getting right to the point.

"How you wound me," the headmaster, Arthur, drawled. "Think of this as I'm your teacher - no, scratch that," he hummed at the scowl on Lovino's face. "Think of us as two exorcists working together to solve a problem."

He waited, and evidently took Lovino's silence as approval. Unless he found something changed in his expression, but that was too creepy for Lovino to dwell on. "Brilliant. What have you found so far?"

"Nothing," Lovino grumbled, dropping a stack of books on the table with a smack. "Zero. Niente. It's a fucking staff."

"What kind of staff?" Arthur prodded. "Different staves have different abilities."

Lovino sighed. "Hell if I know. Not Christian, that's for sure. It had a big ring on top, with a bunch of other rings inside that."

"Khakkhara, possibly."

"What did you just call me-"

"Khakkara," Arthur repeated, ignoring how close it sounded to a certain Italian word for a less-than-holy substance. "A sounding staff, from Buddhist ideology."

Lovino stared at him. The fuck kind of thing was that? That didn't help him in the least. He turned away, deciding to ignore the clearly crazy old man.

"It means peace, Signore Vargas," Arthur continued. "It is, on occasion, used in battle, but it's primarily used as a warning bell, to warn animals and insects that a human is passing by. The instrument of a pacifist."

"...so what's it do?" Lovino asked warily. "Sounds like a glorified wind chime."

"True. It can command various demonic beings, in the hands of the right Meister. Otherwise-" He shrugged. "It's harmless."

Demonic beings. Antonio acquired demonic traits, so... Lovino thought about it. Maybe the staff had called a demon, and that cursed Antonio. Or a possession. Botched, since his personality hadn't changed. Unless the demon was pretending to be him...

"So... Say one of these things has a seal on it," Lovino began, picking his words carefully. "And when it was broken, a demon got loose. Would I have to do some fancy shit with the staff, or throw some holy water and speak a verse?"

"You have to find out what demon you're dealing with, then, but as long as you know the verse, well-" Arthur shrugged. "If you could find out the sealer and ask how they sealed that particular demon away, you will have much better luck dealing with it."

Lovino thought back to his 'talk' with Antonio, the both of them shrieking over his new additions. "Red eyes, and a long red tail."

"A red tail? What did it look like?" Arthur raised an eyebrow, a curious expression on his face. "Middle- and higher-level demons have red eyes. You've not been trained to deal with those yet."

Lovino started making gestures in the air, as if to draw it out, before dropping his hands with a huff. "Bright red. Triangle tip, but more like a flag than anything."

"Ah, a Gufu!"

He almost sounded excited. Lovino snapped his head up to glare at him, resisting the urge to throw one of the hundred-ton textbook bricks at him. He'd probably get detention, anyway. Attacking the headmaster, ha. He wasn't that stupid.

Wait. Scratch that, he wasn't stupid at all. Why would you even think that? How could you?! To think, Lovino trusted you, the reader...

"From the wind kingdom," Arthur explained, cracking open one of the books and unintentionally interrupting Lovino's internal fourth wall breaking. "They are crow spirits, but gain amazing power when possessing someone." He eyes narrowed at Lovino. "If you have a possession of this high level a demon, it might be best to let your grandfather handle it."

Lovino waved off the idea, trying not to show his increasing fear and nervousness. "Ha, th-that's a laugh, the old geezer's getting on in his years. He can't even clear out the old Coal Tars in the basement."

Arthur's expression didn't change. Then he sighed and handed the book to Lovino. "Whatever the reason, I wish you the best of luck in your research endeavors." With that said, he swept out of the room, cloak billowing behind him.

As the door pulled shut, Lovino rolled his eyes. "'Best of luck in your research endeavors', bah. Fuck him, he's ancient," he huffed. "I'll solve this all by myself in no time!"

Ego sufficiently boosted, the Italian dived right back into research.

* * *

Lovino carefully opened the church doors, just a bit, enough for him to slip inside. Voices hummed at the head of the pews, his grandfather's voice the louder of the two. The metal hinges squeaked as he closed them shut again. With a wince, Lovino tiptoed in the shadows, trying to sneak off to the side to escape to one of the other rooms.

"Lovino." His grandfather's voice projected across the large chamber, none of his usual smile found in when Lovino looked up with another wince. "Come here."

Defeated, Lovino hung his head, looking anywhere but at his grandfather. Once he was close enough to see the edges of the Exorcist coat and rather fine shoes of the man beside him, Lovino stopped. He glanced to the side, throwing a scowl at Arthur, the headmaster holding a familiar staff, the leather cover once again hiding the decorative top from view.

"I'm not mad at you..." Lovino rolled his eyes, waiting for the 'but'. "...But why didn't you come to me about this? That seal was there for a reason."

"So? Just put another seal on it. You know how to do that, right? Il preside can fix any mistake."

His grandfather sighed. "That's not a good mindset to have, Lovino," he said. "We shouldn't be fixing your every mistake."

"Not _every_ mistake, but-"

"I can't reseal it," his grandfather interrupted.

Lovino jerked his head up, meeting the elder Vargas's eyes. Antonio had to be saved, the demon possessing him had to be exorcised. "Che? But you have to!" he blurted out.

"I can't," his grandfather repeated. "I didn't put it there, and it's not the easiest seal out there. It requires sacrifice."

"Già, and?" Lovino grasped for straws. "Grab some lambs or birds, I don't care, just put that seal back!"

His grandfather have him a soft, sad look, while Arthur stepped into the conversation. "It can't be done. You might as well bring your friend here."

Lovino glanced between the two of them, paling at the only conclusion he could come to. "I can't. He won't come. He won't agree to any of it."

"Lovino." He felt like there was a heavy importance to the conversation they were trying to impress on him, but he couldn't for the life of him figure out what for. "He'll be safe here while we get everything sorted out."

He shook his head again. "He won't, he'll hate me, he-" His shoulders slumped. "He's scared of all this stuff. Even coming to church is hard for him."

"And won't he be scared of the demons he can see now?"

Lovino's breath caught in his throat. Arthur took that as cue to continue. "Not many demons can get through the wards around the church, but you can lead him around them. Outside, there's nothing stopping them from roaming around, horns and tails on show."

"But he- I don't even know where he is!"

"You have a phone. You know your friend. Go find him."

Gritting his teeth, no tangible retort coming to mind, Lovino spun on his heel and ran down the aisle. The church doors split open with a bang.

"Vaffanculo," Lovino snarled at a man kneeling on the church steps. The man scrambled out of his way and down the street; a week later would find him at the steps again, despite a sign nearby barring loitering. Lovino would most likely end up blessing the guy with a bucket of holy water.

"Beh, Toni, you better pick up," Lovino grumbled at his phone, tapping in his boyfriend's number. To his surprise, Antonio hadn't forgotten it at home this time or forgot to charge it, the call picking up after a few rings. "Toni! Mi molto dispiace, ma-"

"...Toni? Are you on a cliff?"

Lovino's heart skipped a beat, halting in his steps as the whipping winds came through the receiver. Antonio's response came through the receiver, and Lovino let out a held breath. "Dio, don't scare me like that," he groaned, and continued walking. "Seriously. You have to come to my place, ASAP." He hesitated, biting his lip, before deciding to lie, "I got someone who knows a ton more about this than I do. He's willing to take a look at you, but Nonno dragged him into conversation. Old geezer talks too much."

That seemed to do it. Mostly wind at first, but as it died down - Antonio moving down and away from the cliffs - mumbling came through. "What? Talk louder. I can't hear a thing you're saying." Silence.

"...I'll come. But I'm not coming in the actual church part."

Lovino chuckled from the relief. "That's fine. We could even sit out in the garden if you'd like. It's pretty nice out."

"But it's windy."

"You're on a cliff, idiot."

* * *

_Translations_

Dove sono? - Where am I?

Chi sono io? - Who am I?

Grigio - grey/gray

Preside - principle, headmaster, etc

Niente - nothing

Beh - It's the same thing as 've', a slangy version of 'bene'

They are all speaking Italian. Because they live in Italy.

* * *

_Author's Notes_

And so we take a peek at Tonio's psyche.

Yes, Arthur is a Dumbledore wannabe. Because he can.


	4. Into The Monster's Den

**Chapter content: **Lovino's swearing, religion, more characters!

Added characters: Alfred, Gilbert, Roderich, Francis, Natalya (Belarus)

* * *

**Il Segnato**

Manuscripts of music staffs, bare of treble or bass clefs, square blocks filling the spaces haphazardly. Roderich's eyes followed the sweep of the neumes, following the music once again silently. No measured beat could be noted, and he expected not to find one.

His eyes flicked up at the sound of the door, and went right back to the slices of ancient chants. A flash of grey hair, crooked grin, pink eyes; one of the idiots, name of Gilbert Beilschmidt. A hopeless case, if anyone asked Roderich. He didn't know why he bothered, no one with such a reckless sense of danger and low intelligence could ever reach the level of Exorcist. As it was, he'd seen the test results: Gilbert barely made it to Exwire.

Roderich's concentration on chants ended abruptly by the rude intrusion on his personal space as the annoying Exwire plopped himself down into the seat next to him. Unfortunately.

Roderich stood up without a word, collecting his notes. Two strong but delicate hands clapped on his shoulders, and pushed him back down. A light chuckle replied to his huff. "Learn to accept his presence, _mon cher_. Life will be much more forgiving when you do."

Francis Bonnefoy. Not as bad of an idiot, and proper company at times. Roderich preferred to focus on the latter, turning a blind eye to his antics. It was all he could do to remain sane in this class. He kept his lips pursed, refusing to comment on that inane idea.

"By the gods, you're _early._"

After rolling his eyes at Gilbert's mocking tone, Roderich glared up from the music pieces. Evidently he wouldn't be able to cram in more studying in the last few minutes before cram class. He spent a total of two seconds to consider Lovino Vargas trudging into the classroom, a lost-looking teen following behind, before turning his eyes to glare at the blackboard.

"Fuck off, shit-for-brains." Ah. Yes. Lovino's dreary taste in vocabulary. How he was top of the class escaped Roderich. "Just because I'm early doesn't mean you're gonna have a heart attack. Unfortunately."

The sound of someone just about collapsing in a chair, a bag dropped beside them on the floor, with Lovino's sigh. More carefully, another chair was pulled out.

"Oh? Who's this you brought?" Francis asked, a syrupy tone that made his intentions exceedingly obvious. "Introduce us to your friend, petit Lovi."

That same chair rattled back at Lovino shot up. "Keep your slimy hands to yourself, bastard. If you touch him, you'll find yourself down several layers of hell." Softer volume than usual, but nothing out of the ordinary along the lines of insults. Protective.

"Ah, I see," Francis said knowingly, not disturbed at all by the reaction. "I won't pry." The silence from Lovino was enough to reinforce the obvious conclusion.

A new voice entered the conversation, and Roderich looked around to find the source of it, surprised as he was. Ah. The teen who had followed Lovino inside. "Lovi?" he whispered, so soft and small for a hunk of a guy like him. Must be shy.

Lovino hissed, "Well? Introduce yourself already."

"But Lovi..." How whiny.

A huff. "This is Antonio Fernandez Carriedo - it's a mouthful, get used to it. He's a new Page."

"Page?" Gilbert snorted. "What, did you forget we're Exwires or something? Why'd you drag him here?"

"He's a special case," Lovino defended. "I'm stuck with him following me for a while. So that means he's going to learn as part of our class."

"Just drop him off at an intro-level class on your way here. Let the teachers handle him."

"He's too much of a wimp, and Kirkland would get on my ass about it."

Having enough of the talking heads, Roderich broke his staring contest with the board to turn to instead glare at the idiots. His eyes stuck on that tanned teen, appearing out of place. Eyes staring down, frown on his face, fiddling his hands together as if he didn't know what to do with them. Yep. Shy, and nervous about his first day.

"You were bitten."

The idiots stopped their bickering. Francis seemed to already have figured out the best course of action to be to return to his seat without more prodding. Gilbert's eyes snapped wide in realization at the accusation, and glanced between Roderich and the new kid. Antonio raised his head, staring at Roderich with such an innocent look he felt he deserved a cake for this headache.

Lovino stepped between them, scowling at Roderich. "That music bastard is Roderich," he introduced, skipping around the tension in the air, intentionally breaking it. "The albino bastard is Gilbert, and the rose bastard-"

Francis cut in, returning to be the star of attention, producing a rose from thin air. "Francis Bonnefoy, Dragoon, at your service," he purred.

Lovino smacked away Francis's rose, practically hissing at him to back away. He did so, chuckling. "And that-" Lovino resumed his introductions, pointing at the just-opening door, and at the slack-jawed idiot who walked in. "-that hero bastard is Alfred. The teacher is Signora Arlovski." The one person around here treated with any respect.

"Hey." Gilbert leaned back in his chair, balancing it precariously on two legs. "You gave everyone else a nickname, what's his?"

"Tomato bastard."

Antonio spoke up, all-too-happily adding, "Sometimes it's turtle bastard."

"Did I miss something?" Alfred went to his seat, looking around before stopping to grin at Antonio. "New classmate, suh-weet."

Idiots, all of them.

"AAAAAALLLLLLLRIGHT!" Gilbert's shouting and waving his arms attracted the attention of the class, though reluctantly and out of annoyance. "That's enough jibber-jabber!"

While the interruption climbed on top of the front desk, Roderich sighed. "What, may I ask, is so important that we have to pay attention to you."

Gilbert winced as he stood, scuffing his shoes on the nice varnished wood, nearly reached the ceiling. "Harsh. I'm making an announcement, Rod."

"Then get on with it!" Lovino called from the back of the class, kicking his feet up on the desk.

"I will if you stop interrupting me!"

Lovino huffed, rolling his head back.

"Alright," Gilbert sighed, and crossed his arms over his chest. "Alright. If you don't already know, I am Gilbert of the great Beilschmidt family, Knight extraordinaire, handsome future Paladin-"

"Get on with it already!"

"Fine." Gilbert made a show of rolling his eyes. "Sheesh. I'm just saying that a high-level Exorcist-" Antonio flinched, and he grabbed for Lovino's hand under the desk. "-asked me to be their apprentice. This is the last day I'm sticking around with you nerds."

"GOOD."

"Lovi, that's not nice..."

"Oui, have some compassion for our dear friend, he's been with us since we were young, naive Pages..."

Lovino scowled. "None of you are on my side? Fuck you. Fuck all of you. You're all traitors."

"Whoa, we've already replaced Gil. That's kinda sad... I thought Rod would be on Lovino's side, but...damn."

Roderich sighed, his expression unchanging. "It's uncouth to yell and discuss private matters in a classroom, when we're supposed to be learning," he said pointedly.

Alfred thought for a moment. "...we're _learning _about each other's private matters," he concluded, with a smile at having beat Roderich's imposed system. Roderich sighed, giving up on him.

Antonio stared at these strangers, these teens trying to uphold a holy law, and let his heart relax; none of them had noticed his reaction to _that_ word. Still, he couldn't relax entirely. The whole room and building had him on edge. Religious symbols around every corner, hums and chants always at the edge of the strange silence in the halls, and too many Christian nuts for his liking. He didn't mind them on their own in a mundane environment, easily getting along when the offhand religious phrase could be ignored, but in a place like this, the main topic could rarely be anything but religion.

"What?!" Gilbert squawked, and did a quick overview of the room, his eyes lingering on Antonio sheepish smile a few seconds longer, mouth agape. "You are! You're replacing me! You don't even caaaaaaare!" He dropped to his knees, throwing his head back in a dramatic cry. He snuck a peek at the class, and his expression dropped to a scowl, as most of them appeared less than apologetic.

Before he could continue on any more Shakespeare-worthy monologues, the door opened yet again, and Antonio sat up straight at the clacking of stilettos. He'd almost expected a nun, but he didn't complain, green eyes locked on the hips shifting under a pencil skirt. "Beilschmidt, back to your seat." Gilbert quickly dropped off the desk, scuttling back to his seat next to Roderich, who neatly stowed his papers in a stiff folder. "Today we will be covering more on plants. As you may have learned, even the flowers you used to stomp on as kids are festering with demons-" The teacher's words stopped as her eyes fell on the abnormality in her class.

Lovino raised his hand, just barely. "I have to babysit this bastard, orders from Preside Kirkland," he explained. "He's a Page, so could we review basic stuff today?"

"No," was the teacher's snapped answer. "Check the syllabus. We continue on schedule."

Lovino dropped his hand with a sigh. "That's Signora Arlovski, the only one deserving of any respect around here," he muttered, Antonio nodding in understanding. "Take notes, moron." Antonio jolted, and scrambled to take Lovino's untouched notebook and a pen, getting straight to writing down as much as he could.

* * *

The class went on for only two hours. Strangely short in Antonio's opinion, considering this was supposed to be preparing students for an entire career, but his hand ached after that note-taking marathon. Then again, it was cram school. Everything was cramming, cramming, and more cramming. It was unexpected when Lovino started tugging him along after the class, snapping at him to leave the backpack there. "We have another class to go, dumbass," he griped. "We're going to the gym. Physical education. This stuff isn't purely bookwork. God, I'd die if I had to study that plant shit all day."

"Gym? Physical education?" Antonio followed after his mind started to catch up to the idea, keeping close to his friend. "Should I have brought a change of clothes?"

"Nah, they've got spare uniforms," Lovino said, belatedly releasing his hand with a blush. "It's just a bunch of running around and shit like push-ups. You like that type of thing, don't you?"

Antonio frowned, keeping hold of Lovino's wrist in case they got separated in this scary academic building. "I like to keep in shape," he grudgingly agreed, even if that wasn't what Lovino asked. "I don't know about changing around other people-"

"There's stalls," Lovino waved off his concerns, glancing down at their hands. "Nobody cares. You're new, after all."

Antonio nodded, wanting to accept Lovino's words. They kept walking, Lovino at something of a lag due to Antonio dragging them both down, and by the time they got to the locker room, it was empty. Lovino produced a gym uniform from who-knows-where, but as long as it fit, he couldn't protest. Lovino made sure Antonio's tail was hidden, then dragged him out to the gym.

"Took you lovebirds long enough," Gilbert teased. Alfred and Francis shared similar, knowing grins. Lovino groaned, and shook off Antonio. "Let go, I have to punch a few bastards."

"Punch me," Antonio said suddenly, and grinned when that stopped Lovino cold. He started to snigger at the other's wide eyes. "In the face," he clarified. "With your mouth."

That left Lovino spluttering, and the rest of the group burst out laughing. Antonio brightened up considerably; his joke had been taken well, and he turned to see a very red-faced boyfriend. Just as he was about to speak, to ask for that mouth action, another voice interrupted.

"You think this is recess?"

Antonio spun around at the shout, brutal as any physical attack could be. The gym teacher, he presumed, glared at them, and Antonio had a moment of internal conflict that just because he was gay and in a relationship with another boy, did not mean he was allowed to stare at a woman's chest, no matter how impossible it looked wrapped up in a gravity-defying bandanna. He averted his eyes, choosing to inch behind Lovino again. His boyfriend gave a quiet scoff.

The woman's eyes glared all of them down, scanning across the suddenly at-attention group. "Well? Get running, maggots! I want laps, stretches, push-ups! You know the drill." The group took off, and Antonio blinked for a moment before joining them, chasing after to follow Lovino's lead.

Laps, around a track drawn on the gym flooring, deep scratches and bumps in the once-shiny floor, hinting at more than the typical exercise activities going on in this room.

"Lovi. Lovi." Lovino tried to ignore him, he could tell, trying to block out Antonio so he wouldn't have to answer the inane questions that so often popped up in Antonio's mind. "Lovi. Lovi. Lovi."

Antonio persisted, and it eventually paid off, getting a sigh that meant his question would be considered. "What was that guy talking about, me being bitten?"

There was no answer at first, and Antonio's tail twitched under his shirt as they started to lag behind the rest. They glanced to the two boyfriends, but focused on their own exercise. "Bitten by a demon," he explained softly. "When bitten, it gives human the ability to see demons. It's called _Masho_ \- Sometimes it goes by a different name in different religions-"

"_Ubendua_," Antonio supplied, the word coming to mind at the description.

Lovino raised an eyebrow, but kept his eyes on the track in front of them. "Is it a good thing or a bad thing that you know another word for a demon bite?" He skidded to a stop at a certain line on the track that the rest of the group had stopped at, and Antonio followed pace with Lovino as his boyfriend took him through a regime of stretches.

"It's..." Antonio winced and made a small yelp as a stretch pulled at the muscles in his groin. "Where I used to live, in Northern Spain-" Lovino switched positions, and Antonio followed suit. "A spirit's bite is called an_ ubendu_. It would be cured by leaving out a holy book at night, but I just got bedbugs." He looked away when Lovino glanced in his direction. Hey, he could talk about some of these things normally without a panic attack. He wasn't always a bundle of nerves over these things.

A whistle blew, and all eyes shot to the gym teacher. She clapped her hands, not amused. "Hey! This isn't time for chatting! I want the only sound out of your pie holes to be gasps for breath!" She snapped her fingers. "Get, get going, before I release Fuffi!"

"Fuffi?" Antonio whispered to Lovino, who just shook his head. A cutesy dog name? He was sure that had been the name for the three-headed dog in Harry Potter...

* * *

_Author's Notes_

Comprehensive outline is in progress. Chapters just keep getting longer, don't they?

Fuffi is the Italian version of Fluffy in the Harry Potter books.


End file.
